- Steve Miller

JWT this week said that it would run a brand spot on the upcoming release of Mad Men DVD set, featuring creative that spells out the words "mad men" using letters and logos from the ad agency's global client roster.

The spot, which carries the tagline: "Making brands famous since 1864," appears at the outset of the first disc in a four-disc set produced by Lionsgate. Mad Men is an AMC drama series set in the 1960s New York ad industry. The DVD set, which has a sales goal of 200,000, will be available July 1.

"This is an opportunity for us to leverage our brand," said JWT global CEO Bob Jeffrey. "All I'm looking for is a nod of the head and recognition for what JWT is."

Jeffrey said that the link with Lionsgate and the series will be the crux of some JWT "promotional opportunities" with New York area cable stations, as well as a Mad Men promotion that will run during Advertising Week in New York this September.

Details on the promotions weren't disclosed.

The series—which launched last summer and begins season two next month—has drawn on an audience of both consumers and industry people, giving JWT a platform that is hard to refuse, said Jeffrey. Last year, the agency spent $80,000 on ads (not including online), per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

"I always thought that the best way to build an agency is through the work it does for its clients," he said. "But this was a different kind of opportunity because of the nature and the content of the show."

The spot is a rare occasion in which an ad agency actually advertises, said Chris Vollmer, U.S. media practice leader at Booz Allen, New York.

"It suggests that some of the people watching these DVDs must be important influencers somewhere," Vollmer said. ". . . It's an industry play rather than a consumer play, because I can't see how it would make sense to a consumer. JWT must feel that there is a big portion of the [ad] industry watching this."

Some industry experts, however, feel that JWT's efforts to gain more brand exposure won't pay off. Simon Sinek, CEO of New York consultancy SinekPartners, said, "It sounds like someone reacting to an opportunity to me, and in doing so, JWT is acting like one of their own worst clients."